Machine



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MACHINE Original Filed March 31, 1955 18 Sheets-Sheet 18 INVENTOR. $4876? A orr m B Y #7 Tar/vars United States Patent Ofifice 3,015,020 Patented Dec. 26, 1961 My invention relates to a method and apparatus for combining lead wires with electric terminal elements and this application is a continuation of my copending application, Serial No. 498,211, filed March 31, 1955, which in turn is a continuation-in-part of my copending application, Serial No. 69,806, filed January 7, 194-9, and both now abandoned.

In my copending applications I have disclosed a method and apparatus for assembling wire conductors and metal contact elements. The afore-disclosed apparatus and the apparatus of the present invention are designed for use in the mass production of electric terminal and wire assemblies. In my prior apparatus of said application I have taken coiled metal strip and progressively formed in it the metal contact elements in such a way that they remain a part of the strip and are oriented so that they receive wires which extend transversely to the length of the strip. After a contact element is formed in the strip, a wire is inserted in the wire receiving portion of it and then as the strip is moved through subsequent stages the wireis mechanically secured by crimping or staking to the contactelement and also spot welded to it. As a final operation, the contact element with the affixed wire is cut off from the strip. The wires are carried through these various operations by the strip which acts as a conveyor for them, this being possible because of the transverse disposition of the wires with respect to the strip. Suitable means are provided to index the strip exactly the right amount so that the various portions thereof are in proper alignment with the mechanism that operates upon them and suitable means are provided to support the weight of the strip with the wires attached thereto.

For the most part the assembly of wires and contacts is carried out at the plant of the user of such assembly, for example, at an automobile plant. Recently, however, it has been found that the needs of such manufacturers are better satisfied if they are provided with the terminals already formed in strips which are coiled up into reels or spools. The manufacturer then can omit the first stage of the apparatus and method described in my copending applications, the forming stage, and use only the remaining stages wherein the wires are attached to the contact elements in the strip and then the assembly of wire and contact element is severed from the strip.

The present invention concerns modifications in the previously disclosed apparatus which adapt it especially to assemble wires with contact elements when the contact elements are supplied to the machine in strip form. The apparatus disclosed herein, though in its broad aspects not so limited, contemplates that the wires be welded to the contact elements and is adapted to be used in conjunction With'spot welding apparatus that is available on the open market, the specific form illustrated herein being sold by the Taylor-Winfield Company of Warren, Ohio. The apparatus 'of' the present invention includes features whereby the strips of terminals are properly fed to the spot welding and to the staking apparatus and oriented with respect to them so that they are in the proper location for automatic operation. Various safety features are incorporated to'prevent jamming in the event of the malformation of a contact element received in the strip or in the event of other operating contingencies that may arise. An important feature is that certain parts are readily interchangeable so that different terminal designs can be handled on the same apparatus.

The invention is disclosed in preferred form in the accompanying drawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view taken from a position at the front-left of apparatus embodying the invention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged front perspective of the apparatus shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a side elevation of the apparatus of this invention with the weld equipment removed and with attachment 61 removed;

FIG. 4 is an elevation from the weld pocket side of a typical strip of terminals that may be attached to wires by means of this invention, the elevation being taken from the top of FIG. 5;

FIG. 5 is a plan view of the strip of terminals of FIG.

FIG. 6 is a side elevation of the strip taken from the bottom of FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a front view of the feed mechanism 31 with parts removed and parts broken away;

FIG. 8 is a side elevation taken from the right of FIG. 7, with parts removed and parts broken away;

FIG. 9 is a view, partly in section, partly broken away, and with parts removed and added, taken from the back of FIG. 7;

FIG. 10 is a plan view with parts removed and broken away of the assembly 61;

FIG. 11 is a front view of the structure of FIG. 10;

FIG. 12 is a bottom view of the structure of FIGS. 10 and 11;

FIGS. 13l6 are sections taken on lines 13-13 to 16-16, respectively, of FIG. 11;

FIG. 17 is a plan detail view of the die retainer plate;

FIG. 18 is a front elevation of the die retainer plate taken from the bottom of FIG. 17;

FIG. 19 is a plan detail view of the stripper which is mounted on top of the die retainer plate;

FIG. 20 is a front elevation of the stripper of FIG. 19;

FIG. 21 is a cross section through the combined stripper and die retainer plate;

FIG. 22 is a plan view of a feed check device in the stripper;

FIG. 23 is a section on line 23-23 of FIG. 22;

FIG. 24 is a section on line 24-24 of FIG. 22;

FIG. 25 is a front detail elevation of the frame for the stake and cutoff apparatus;

FIG. 26 is aside elevation of the frame shown in FIG. 25;

FIG. 27 is a detail front elevation of the slide for carrying the punch and pilot parts;

FIG. 28 is a top view of the slide of FIG. 27 with parts added to show how the slide is held in place on the frame;

FIG. 29' is a vertical section through the slide assembly, the punch and pilot assembly being omitted;

FIG. 30 is a reduced size section along line 30-30 of FIG. 29;

FIG. 31 is a top view of the punch holder carried by the slide of FIG. 27;

FIG. 32 is an elevation taken from the front of the punch holder;

FIG. 33 is a section on line 33-33 of FIG. 31;

FIG. 34 is a plan view of the punch backup plate;

FIG. 35 is a top plan view of the punch holder with the =FIG. ro. FIG;

40 is a front view of the punch pressure pad; 41 is a top view of the punch pressure pad; 42 is a front elevation of the cutoff punch;

FIG. 43 is a side elevation of the punch of FIG. 42; I FIG. 44 is a bottom elevation of the cutoff punch of FIG. 42;

FIG. 45 is a front view with parts removed, broken away, and sectioned, of the slide carrying the punch and pilot assembly and of the die sections;

FIG. 46 is a plan view of the die section mounting or backup plate; 7

FIG. 47 is a plan detail view of die section 462;

FIG. 48 is a front elevation of the die section of FIG. 47

I FIG. 49 is a plan view of the die retainer plate and die section assembly;

FIG. 50 is a plan view of an insert in die section 462;

FIG. 51 is a front elevation of the insert in FIG. 50;

FIG. 52 is a front elevation, enlarged, of a portion of the insert and staking punch as they cooperate to attach ears 21 to a wire;

FIG. 53 is a front elevation of die section 491;

FIG. 54 is a front elevation of die section retainer 515;

FIG. 55 is a section on line 5555 of FIG. 49;

FIG. 56 is a side view partly in section of the coil stand;

FIG. brake;

FIG. cuit;

FIG. 59 is a front elevation of a wire feeding and holding mechanism;

FIG. 60 is a cross section on line 60-60 of FIG. 59;

FIG. 61 is a plan view of the die retainer with spring plate added;

FIG. 62 is a front elevation of FIG. 61;

FIG. 63 is a section through the pressure pad and die assembly;

FIG. 64 is a section through the cutoff punch and die assembly;

FIG. 65 is a plan view of a portion of a strip containing a different type of terminal;

FIG. 66 is a cross section through the modified form of terminal;

FIG. 67 is a front elevation of the modified punch and pilot set for handling the terminal of FIG. 65;

FIG. 68 is a bottom view of the punch and pilot set of FIG. 67; I

FIG. 69 is a plan view of a portion of the die section or bed used in connection with the modified form of terminal;

FIG. 70 is a side elevation of the bottom portion of the staking punch for attaching the stripped, stranded wire ends to the terminal of FIG. 65;

FIG. 71 is a bottom view of the punch of FIG. 70;

FIGS. 72 and 73 are side elevations taken from opposite sides of the staking punch for bending arms on the terminal of FIG. 65 around the wire insulation;

FIG. 74 is a bottom view of the punch of FIG. 72;

FIG. 75 is a cross section through the center of the punch of FIG. 72;

FIG. 76 is a front elevation in detail of a die section cooperating with the punches of FIGS. 70-75;

FIG. 77 is a side elevation of the die section of FIG. 76;

FIG. 78 is an enlarged plan view of FIG. 76;

FIG. 79 is an enlarged 57 is a side view of FIG. 56 showing the coil 58 is a diagrammatic view of the operating cirthe die section of front view of the die section;

- and the several figures that will be first described hereinafter. The terminals come in strip form, as indicated by the reference numeral 1, and are preferably wound up into a coil 3 which, as again mentioned herein, is mounted on a suitable spindle 5 projecting from a bracket 7 that is affixed at 9 to the top of a table 11.

The strip 1 consists of a series of identically formed metal terminal or contact elements 13 which are interconnected one with the other by rather thin carrier strip portions 15 which are eventually removed and discarded as scrap material. The terminal element 13 consists of a flat contact portion 17 having a pilot and detent hole 19. Spaced sideways of the flat portion 17 is a rebent arm 21 of a shape best seen in FIGS. 4 and 6 which is adapted to embrace a wire, such as the wires 23 illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2. The arm 21 may be of a siZe to embrace the bared end or stranded ends of the wire 23 or may be, and preferably is for the particular contact shown, large enough to embrace the insulation of the wire. Eventually, in the operation of the apparatus of this invention, the arm 21 is staked or firmly crimped about the wire 23 so as to mechanically hold it tightly to the terminal element 13. In alignment with the opening provided by the rebent arm 21 is a weld pocket 25. The pocket 25 is adapted to receive the stripped or bared end of the wire 23 which can then be welded to the bottom of the pocket. The pocket is defined by side barriers or portions 27 and 29. The barrier 27 is formed by a crimp struck in the metal of the carrier section 15 and the barrier 29 is similarly formed by an upstruck portion of the carrier portion of the strip 1. The transverse serrations shown in the bottom of the weld pocket may be used to improve the spot weld that is obtained, this being disclosed and claimed in a copending application Serial No. 489,920, filed February 23, 1955, of the present inventor, assigned to the assignee hereof, and now abandoned.

The strip 1 of terminals in the coil 3 is automatically pulled from the coil, causing the coil to unwind, by a feed mechanism 31 which engages the cut out portions in the strip behind arms 21 to index the strip toward the left, that is, through the various stages of the apparatus. As the strip 1 is fed through the apparatus supported on suitable surfaces which will be mentioned hereinafter, it passes first through a spot welding stage at 33 where the wires 23 are inserted in and spot welded to the pocket 25 of each of the contact elements 13 in the strip 1. At a later point, the arm 21 is bent down tightly in the contact with the wire, this constituting a staking or crimping operation resulting in a mechanical connection of the wire and the contact element 13. After the staking operation each contact 13 is severed from the strip 1, this being done by removing the section 15 of carrier strip as indicated by the line 15 in FIG. 5. The staking and the cutoff operation are, in the apparatus shown, carried out at the point 35. After the cutoff operation, the combined wire and contact 13 are ejected from the machine, sliding down the inclined surface 37 into a chute 39 and thence into a tote box or other suitable container properly placed beneath the machine to receive them.

The apparatus that is illustrated herein consists of two separate units which can, however, within the purview of the invention, be combined into one unit. These two units are the spot welding apparatus 43, the illustrated apparatus being of a type available on the open market and furnished by the Taylor Winfield Company of Warren, Ohio, as model No. EB2-S20, and the other unit is the apparatus 45 for performing all the other operations on the terminals in strip form, including the apparatus for feeding and for guiding the strip 1. Both the units 43 and 45 are mounted on the table 11 so as to be at a convenient working height for the operator who is required to feed the wires 23 into the terminal arms 21. at the spot welding point 33 and to step on a suitable switch to actuate each cycle of spot weld, stake, cutoff, retract, and feed. As already indicated, the spot welding apparatus 43 is 

